We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Alissa Riedel. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Alissa below.
Hi Alissa, thanks for joining us today. The first dollar your business earns is always special and we’d love to hear how your brand made its first dollar of revenue.
My very first paid session was a newborn session in a hospital, talk about nerve-wrecking! First of all, I am not a mother and was not at all comfortable handling a newborn. Second of all, I absolutely hate hospitals so I was a wreck trying to locate the room and make sure I got there on time. I found the room, she held her baby, she loved the pictures, and all was well in the world! That was the only session I have ever done like that to this day, I think stepping so far out of my comfort zone so early on in my career really helped me grow into the photographer that I am today.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
Hey there! My name is Alissa Riedel, owner of Alissa Riedel Photos, creative name right?! I’m a photographer based in Central Florida, I provide photography services from Orlando to South Florida and beyond!
If you would have told me even 3 years ago that I would be a photographer today I would not have believed you. I went to college and got a bachelors degree in business. The plan was get to my degree and work in Human Resources. The summer after I graduated college in 2019, I started a Human Resources internship at a medical center. Long story short, my internship ultimately showed me what I didn’t want. I didn’t want a stuffy office job, I wanted to do something I really loved and was passionate about.
Flash forward to 2020, my best friend was pregnant with her little boy. She wanted to get maternity photos done to remember and cherish this time in her life. She reached out to a couple of different photographers in the area and they were either booked up or way out of budget. Growing up, me and my friends always had little backyard “photoshoots” so I offered to take her pictures on her iPhone and edit them on my Lightroom Mobile app. So that’s what we did. After she posted on Facebook, she and her boyfriend were receiving messages asking who took their photos and how to book with me for theirs.
Christmas came around and my sweet, supportive parents gifted me my first camera. Alissa Riedel Photos was born! I am so grateful to God for opening doors and allowing things to play out exactly the way that He had planned for me. I am blessed with amazing friends and family who have supported me from the very beginning and believed in me and what I can accomplish. For as long as I’m here, I will give all the glory to God for allowing me to live my daydream.
Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?
Believe it or not, word-of-mouth is still the most effective strategy for growing my clientele. Of course you can keep up with social media, be responsive to emails, run promotions, etc.. All of those things are great and definitely work, but don’t underestimate the power of word-of-mouth marketing.
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
I have been doing photography for nearly 3 years now and I am still trying to teach and remind myself that somebody else’s success is NOT the absence of my own. We as business owners are all on our own individual journeys and paths. As frustrating it can be to see someone in your field of work doing “better” than you, it does not mean that you are not still doing great. Comparison is the thief of joy, so don’t do it!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.alissariedelphotos.com
- Instagram: alissariedelphotos
- Facebook: Alissa Riedel Photos
- Linkedin: Alissa Riedel
Image Credits
Alissa Riedel Photos